
The U.S. Army — following several less than successful efforts — turned to a precision drilling machine company to demilitarize more than 40,000 obsolete tank cannon shells that date back to the Vietnam era.
It acquired two 2100 series machines from AutoDrill of Millington, N.J., that were used to remove pyrotechnic tracer material from the base of the projectiles. Soldiers were then able to recycle hundreds of tons aluminum and steel from the inert rounds.